The present invention relates generally to a device for use in removing ingrown toenails and more particularly to a nail splitter for implementing a procedure known as a "wedge resection". The device has a plier or scissor type construction, including co-acting jaws used to split a nail in order to remove the ingrown portion of the toenail with minimal intrusive procedure and trauma to the infected area.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that ingrown nails (usually toenails) are a common malady that often must be corrected by an outpatient operative procedure. The phrase "ingrown toenail" is used to describe the condition where the edge of the toenail or fingernail grows into the soft tissue of the digit, causing inflammation, and on occasion an abscess. When an ingrown toenail occurs, the surgical procedure used to correct it to split the nail and remove the portion of the nail that has turned and grown radially into the soft tissue of the digit.
The corrective procedure for ingrown toenails is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,322 issued to DeSantis on Jun. 26, 1990. DeSantis describes the procedure, and in FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrates the procedure of splitting the nail so that the ingrown portion of the nail can be removed. DeSantis' description of the procedure is done in conjunction with the description of his invention for a "Ingrown Toenail Part Remover" which he describes and claims in the referenced patent.
The DeSantis device is a radical departure from the more traditional prior art devices used for this procedure. As DeSantis describes, the prior art devices include pliers and scissor type devices, such devices being by far and away the norm for use in executing this procedure. DeSantis recognizes that prior art safety blades have certain drawbacks. Further, he recognizes that the use of separate depressors to separate the soft tissue of the nail can be awkward to use and may result in unnecessary trauma to the affected region because of multiple insertions of separators, cutting devices, etc.
The object of Applicant's invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art with a more traditional instrument which is an improvement over the instruments with which this procedure is currently undertaken. To that end, Applicant's device is a scissor or plier type instrument having a flat separator tongue with a rounded nose which is hingedly connected to a cutter blade for severing the nail once the separator tongue has been inserted between the nail and the soft tissue.
Another problem that exists with this procedure using traditional instruments is that the nail, which extends approximately 2-3 mm beneath the cuticle must be cut throughout its full length. Prior art devices have traditionally involved cutting the cuticle as well as the nail in order to cut the nail to its base. Cutting the cuticle generates an unnecessary trauma to the region and may result in infection and delays in the healing process. Therefore, another object of Applicant's invention is to provide a device for implementing this procedure which avoids cutting the cuticle while at the same time enabling the device to cut the nail throughout its entire length. To this end, Applicant's cutting device provides a hawk-nose on the tip of the cutter blade which mates with the rounded nose of the separator tongue so that when the blade is pressed against the tongue and the nail as cut, the cut can be made to a point immediately adjacent the cuticle. The blade is then opened slightly so that the hawk-nosed portion of the blade will slide under the cuticle when the device is pushed toward the base of the nail, thereby separating the cuticle from the nail and allowing the blade to cut the base of the nail but avoiding any cut to the cuticle. Once the hawk-nose of the blade is inserted beneath the cuticle and extended to the base of the nail, the blade can be once again pressed against the separator tongue so that the nail can be cut throughout its entire length. The device can then be used to capture the severed portion of the nail because of the overlapping engagement of the hawk-nosed portion of the cutting blade with the separator tongue. When those two elements are engaged about the severed portion of the nail, one can gently remove the severed portion of the nail from the toe. A device providing these features and enabling this procedure to be effectively performed in the fashion described is not currently available in the prior art.